In this exercise we were asked to fix the cameras aperture as wide as possible and take a series of pictures focused at each of foreground, mid-ground and background. I lined up 3 old cameras and used a tripod to mount an NEX-5 pointing down the length of them. I used the longest zoom possible (55mm) to maximise the depth of field effects and then shot the following 3 pictures:
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| focused on Rolleiflex (closest camera) |
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| Focused on Press camera (middle camera) |
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| Focused on Deardorff (furthest camera) |
By using the widest aperture available on this lens, combined with a long zoom and a relatively close camera to subject distance, we were able to use selective focus and shallow depth of field to draw attention to the area of the picture in sharpest focus.
It is worth noting that the amount of blur in the out of focus area varies with the focus point in the picture. the closer the lens is focused, the greater the bokeh in the de-focused areas. To make this explicit; notice how the Deardorff seen when focused on the Rollei appears more blurred than the Rollei does when focused on the Deardorff...
The exercise asks us to choose a favourite and justify it.
Of the 3 shots, the first shot with the closest focus demonstrates selective focus the most. Since the cameras are arranged with increasing age as we move further away from the camera (70's, 50's, 40's) and also increasing size (120 roll film, 5"x4" sheet, 10"x8" sheet), the increasing blur seems to re-enforce this progression
My shot notes for this exercise can be seen here:
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